DeSantis: ‘FEMA Is Not Leading the Show, We Are Leading the Show Here in the State of Florida’

Reporter: “So obviously this storm is very dangerous and you’ve been pushing for evacuations and whatnot. There’s also misinformation out there that I believe that I think even a number of your team has tried to dispel online. I know the FEMA administrator brought up other reports of misinformation. I just want to know your thoughts on this.”
DeSantis: “What specific misinformation are you talking about?”
Reporter: “There was one — the one — this — there was one tweet that — that was telling people not to evacuate because there was some collusion between FEMA and a — and a security team that wouldn’t let people back into their homes. That was obviously —“ [crosstalk]
DeSantis: “Guys listen, listen. I think most people are wise to this. You know, we live in an era where if you put out crap online, you can get a lot of people to share it and you can monetize that. That’s just the way it is. But if you’re hearing something that’s just outrageous, just know in the state of Florida, None of that stuff would ever fly. So you don’t have to worry about that. FEMA is not leading this show. We are leading this show here in the state of Florida. We’re marshalling whatever assets are available to us. We’re leveraging that. But certainly with people evacuating, in my executive order, I put in on Saturday that the default is you have a right to immediately return to your home following the storm. Now, there may be some circumstances that are not usual. But — I mean, if a bridge is about to collapse, if there’s real massive hazards, if there’s active rescues going on, but the default is you get back. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, we’re just going to keep people off for 48 hours because we think it will be easier to clean up debris.’ No, no, no, no. This is your private property. This is your home. You have a right to go back. So that’s in our executive order. That will be something that we did — that we work towards to make sure that that’s the case. It’s important that people are able to get back. And — and I’d also note, you know, we talk about the debris, get all this debris, right? These contractors, some of them were doing a lousy job, others weren’t. And we decided to take it on ourselves to go really surge people and supplement that. But by keeping the landfills open 24/7, there was a lot of private citizens that were going cleaning up debris, bringing them back. And these guys got like F — Ford F-250s. They’re bringing them back to the landfill, dropping them. That was a huge help. So there’s not going to be anything where FEMA is ever going to be able to keep you from your home. Be careful about the nonsense that just — that gets circulated. And just know that the more titillating it is, the more likely somebody is making money off of it. And — and they don’t really give a damn about the well-being and safety of the people that are actually in the eye of this storm, it’s all just trying to monetize what they’re doing. And I know there’s been a lot of stuff about what FEMA’s done in other states. Look, I haven’t been there, I don’t know. But I can tell you in Florida, we are leading this train. We’re marshaling all available resources, federal, state, and we’re supporting local. And that’s the way it’s going to be. So you can have confidence in that. Yes, sir.”